English FA announces winter break

In European leagues of corresponding stature, the winter hiatus is much more lengthy than just one weekend off.

While the Premier League will take a break, the Football League will continue with its full schedule as normal.

The FA Cup fifth round will now move to midweek to accommodate the change and replays will be abolished in that round, having already been scrapped in the quarterfinals from this season.

The busy EFL schedule, which at 46-games includes eight more matches than the Premier League season, will not accomodate the break.

He told the FA's website: "This is a significant moment for English football and one that we believe will greatly benefit both club and country".

Per BBC Sport, a staggered break for the 20 clubs in the English top flight will mean no weekend is empty of fixtures, as a full gameweek will be played across two weekends, five on the first and five on the second.

"When the Premier League was formed in 1992 nobody could have envisaged the scale of global growth in the competition which exists now", said Premier League Executive Chairman Richard Scudamore.

"This is not seen to be a way and won't be [of making money]", said Martin Glenn, the chief executive of the Football Association. We hope it will provide the appropriate recovery time for players and have the positive impact on player and team performance that it is created to deliver.

"We are very pleased to have an outcome that will include an exciting first for fans - a full fixture programme split over two weekends with all matches broadcast live in the United Kingdom".

In a statement, EFL chief executive Shaun Harvey said "it is now impractical even if it was desirable for the EFL" to take part in the mid-season break because of the scheduling challenges of playing 46-game seasons and play-offs.

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